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UPDATE: Schools, area residents bracing for storm

LOWELL -- If you don't have to go anywhere on Wednesday, you're one of the lucky ones.

It's going to be nasty out there, according to the National Weather Service.

Greater Lowell is expected to see 8 to 12 inches of snow, with some pockets getting as much as 14 inches, said Rebecca Gould, meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

Many schools are already canceling classes in anticipation. (A list at the bottom of this story will be updated.)The worst of the storm will be from 4 a.m. to noon, with 1 to 2 inches of snow per hour, she said.

"The morning commute will be a mess," Gould said.

Weather Channel meterologist Mike Seidel and his crew were reporting on the storm live from outside Lowell City Hall on Wednesday morning. (SUN/GRANT WELKER)

"I would stay off the roads, if possible."

Snow could linger around for the evening commute, but it won't be as heavy, she said.

With temperatures hovering around 30 degrees on Wednesday, it will be a wet, heavy snow, unlike the fluffy snow from the frigid January storms.

"It's that heart-attack snow when they refer to shoveling," Gould said.

It will be a calm wind throughout the day, with gusts only up to 15 mph, she said.

After the storm ends Wednesday evening, dry and chilly conditions in the 20s will swoop in for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Meteorologists are already tracking a storm from Sunday afternoon into Monday, but "there's a lot of uncertainty with that one," Gould said.

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The following local schools have already closed for Wednesday:

Acton

Acton-Boxboro

Ayer-Shirley

Boxboro

Concord-Carlisle Regional High School

Concord Academy

Dracut

Greater Lowell Technical High School

Harvard

Hudson, N.H.

Immaculate Conception School (Lowell)

Lawrence Central Catholic

Lowell

Lowell Catholic High School

Lowell Community Charter Public School

Nashua

Notre Dame Academy (Tyngsboro)

Parker Charter (Devens)

Pelham, N.

Lowell DPW workers load up city trucks at the satl/sand shed off Westford Street with road salt in prep for the upcoming snowstorm . SUN/ David H. Brow (David H. Brow)

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